Compare and contrast Elizabeth with Thomas Aquinas

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Compare and contrast Elizabeth with Thomas Aquinas
Elizabeth Johnson, in her book SHE WHO IS, presents in discussing how God is known and the right way to speak about God. Johnson’s view seems to be consistent with Aquinas on how we know God.
o   Any approach in knowing God who is mystery beyond all imagining must start with things that are known through human experience, that is, the experience of God’s creatures.
Concerning the question, what is the right way to speak about God? Johnson’s concern here is on the language we use to speak about God. She notes that human language can never be adequate to explain the reality of God who is mystery, hence, no expression should be taken
literary since it cannot attain the reality of God.
o   All names we give to God are metaphors arising from the human experiences of a structural world that excludes and subordinates women and show undue superiority to men.
Hence, her position is considered a feminist theology which is predicated on knowing and speaking about God from the experience of females. Summarily, Johnson presupposes that theological language is purely metaphorical. This is where the weakness of her arguments lies. On the contrary, Thomas says theological language is both metaphorical and analogical. Metaphor arises from experience, hence to say theological language is only metaphorical would be wrong. When we use language metaphorically, it does not mean that that is what God is in essence. We are only speaking about God in imperfect terms.
o   Johnson’s problem is that she collapses the distinction between analogy and metaphor which leads her to equivocation. She could not distinguish between imperfect and valid language.
Thus, when we speak about God analogically, our speech about God is imperfect yet valid.


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